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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29011824">Spirits, Save Me</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tay_Cipher7/pseuds/Crowley'>Crowley (Tay_Cipher7)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Fire Lord Zuko, Hurt/Comfort, Katara's Healing Water, Light Angst, M/M, Post-Canon, Sokka can't keep his eyes to himself, Sokka is smitten and doesnt know it, Spirit Shenanigans, Temporary Amnesia, Zuko (Avatar) Needs a Hug, brief made-up slur use (but not out loud), for spice, mom friend katara, mostly?, no beta we die like men, vague mentions of panic attacks, very vague mentions of sexual content</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 12:41:37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,754</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29011824</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tay_Cipher7/pseuds/Crowley</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>Why couldn’t he remember anything? Anything to explain his current situation.</em>
</p><p>...</p><p>Or, Sokka wakes up with no memory of the past four years, in bed with someone he seems to both love and hate. If you asked him, he would say he's handling it pretty well, all things considered.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aang &amp; Sokka (Avatar), Aang &amp; Zuko (Avatar), Katara &amp; Sokka (Avatar), Katara &amp; Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>251</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Spirits, Save Me</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>So one of my least favourite tropes in long stories is when one of the main characters gets amnesia and loses all character development before that moment. I hate it. It completely ruins stories for me. I will drop a fic if it happens, no matter how many hours I spent on it. </p><p>Anyway, this was inspired by those sort of moments but I took the trope and made it a one-shot and temporary.</p><p>(Edited: 3/21/21)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><hr/><p><br/><br/>Sokka woke up groggier than normal. His head was fuzzy and his vision swam as he cracked a sleep-heavy eye open to stare at an unfamiliar ceiling. </p><p><em> Huh, </em>he thought.</p><p>
  <em>That’s not right...</em>
</p><p>He closed his eyes again, the wild pounding in his head becoming more apparent as he slowly took stock of his body. Whatever he was laying on was plush, the sheets silky against the skin of his arms. There was a firm, strangely-warm pressure against his right arm, trapping it against the bed. Or, at least he <em>assumed</em> it was a bed. There wasn’t much else it could be.</p><p>The pressure was moving, he noted.</p><p>A steady in-and-out as a warm breath fanned against his chest. Sokka, eyes still closed but becoming more confused by the second as the headache abated and he drew himself further from sleep, turned his head towards the thing that had a tighthold of his arm. His lips met something soft, and whatever it was tickled his face. He huffed harshly through his nose.</p><p>Weirdly familiar, but right then that too-light of a touch made him want to sneeze instead of bury his nose in it.</p><p>His thoughts skid to a halt. <em>Bury his nose in it? What? Why would he want to do that?  </em></p><p>Whatever had him <em>did</em> smell amazing so he’ll give it that. Perhaps it was some kind of animal; perhaps the gang finally got a pet and forgot to tell him, or perhaps he just spaced it and the memory of buying a polar-bear dog the day before will return in just a minute.</p><p>Sokka waited patiently for that minute; waited for the memory to return, or whatever else it was to simply explain where he was and why he was pinned down, to an extent, at least. Well, he <em>assumed</em> it as a minute...</p><p>Whatever was next to him let out a heavy sigh, turning just a bit to nuzzle into Sokka’s chest before settling once more.</p><p>Sokka felt his heart-rate pick up. <em> So, not a polar-bear dog. Okay. Okay, this is fine, we can figure this out. Just don’t panic. </em></p><p>He was panicking. He knew that. But still.</p><p>Finally prying his eyes open, this time with much less difficulty, he waited just a moment, blinking the sleep from his vision as it adjusted to the dark room. The moonlight was nice, regardless of the circumstances. Familiar, as well. It provided him with a bit of light, enough that once his eyes finished adjusting, he could see his surroundings with a decent level of clarity. </p><p>Sokka carefully looked down to his side; as it turned out, the warmth that went down the length of his person was <em>another</em> person.</p><p>
  <em> Oh, Spirits. </em>
</p><p>He couldn’t think of a single reason to explain what he was doing in a, rather admittedly, large room, in a large bed, with <em>another person</em>. A <em>stranger</em>. Or, at least, he was assuming a stranger. </p><p><em>Why couldn’t he remember anything?</em> He mentally cried, <em>Anything to explain his current situation!</em> </p><p>Sokka swallowed his distress with a click. <em> Breathe</em>, he reminded himself. <em> It’s okay, just remember your training, </em> the inner voice, sounding suspiciously like his father before a hunt, pointedly reminded him.</p><p>He turned his head more to get a better look at the person clinging to him. He observed for a moment—like a predator sizing up his prey. He ignored the utter discomfit of that particularly <em>base</em> acknowledgement and continued to look. </p><p>The person was a man—one that didn’t look more than 20. Though, Sokka wasn’t a fool: looks can be deceiving. And Spirits, this person was absolutely <em>gorgeous</em>, too. Pale skin illuminated by the silver moonlight; black hair taking on a reddish hue. Sokka’s eyes trailed down the length of the man’s body—what was not obscured by sheet, that is. He was all long lines of toned muscle that somehow still looked soft—like it would yield under his touch or harden with tension in a fight.</p><p>He winced at himself. Honestly, why did his thoughts keep getting away from him like this? Here he was, somewhere he didn’t know, <em>acting as a body pillow</em> to <em>someone</em> he didn’t know, as he silently ogles said ‘someone’.</p><p>Sokka would groan in dismay if he wasn’t worried about startling his bedmate. For all he knew, they could kill him the moment they woke up.</p><p>There was something wickedly familiar about him, though. A strange, nagging feeling in Sokka’s heart and a pull of recognition at the back of his mind like an incessant itch.</p><p>Sokka frowned, his heartbeat picking back up despite how it only just calmed to a respectable speed. This, whatever it was, was <em>way </em>too weird, and getting even weirder by the second. </p><p>He shifted, trying for a moment to gently extract his arm before hopefully removing himself entirely, but it only caused whoever was on top of him to groan and mumble, moving even closer—their brows pinched and their nose scrunched rather adorably. It was utterly endearing and it made Sokka’s heart pang fondly, much to his utter horror.</p><p><em>What in Spirit’s name was he missing?</em> And didn’t <em>that</em> question make a strange, empty feeling swirl through him. </p><p>Sokka’s panic spiked aggressively and even he would admit, in hindsight, that his next actions weren’t entirely thought through. He <em>yanked</em> his arm out from the other man’s grasp before ripping himself out from under them.</p><p>Let it be known that Sokka was well aware that he was foolish for the action, especially seeing as his bedmate didn’t just jolt awake or even just stay asleep like any other person, but rather he startled <em>violently,</em> sitting up so fast it nearly made <em>Sokka</em> dizzy before—by the Spirits, Sokka knew those golden eyes and that horribly red scar.</p><p>It was Prince Zuko, of course it was. He was sleeping next to <em>Prince Zuko</em>. He was checking <em>Prince Zuko</em> out only moments ago! His luck just never could stop, could it?</p><p>He wanted to demand answers from him, but he was stuck in such a state of shock that not a single noise left his mouth.</p><p>Sokka sat there, staring wide-eyed at the Prince while Zuko’s golden eyes darted frantically around the room in...terror?...before they finally settled on Sokka and visible relief wracked the smaller frame.</p><p>“Agni save me, Sokka you scared the ever-loving <em>shit</em> out of me,” Zuko said, surprisingly exasperated, before slumping in on himself, bracing one hand against the bed and the other against his chest.</p><p>Sokka had this horrible feeling that told him he should not have done that. Under any circumstance, he shouldn’t have done that. Then the feeling morphed into a terribly desperate need to <em>apologize</em> and comfort the slightly-trembling man in front of him.</p><p>Such thoughts did <em>not</em> help his growing mortification and all-consuming confusion.</p><p>“Sokka?” Zuko asked, voice wary. “Are you alright? Should I go get Katara? Are you hurt?”</p><p>Now the <em>Fire Prince</em> sounded worried. And Katara? Katara was there? Had the Prince captured them all and locked them up? Something beyond himself pushed that thought away from the realm of valid questions the instant it flitted through his mind. It was a rather obnoxious thought.</p><p>Zuko’s brows pinched more and his eyes seemed bright with worry.</p><p><em>Pretty, </em>he thought absently.</p><p>“Sokka, please talk to me. I can’t help unless you do,” Zuko said, shuffling closer, adjusting himself to sit on his knees, hand still over his heart.</p><p>Sokka swallowed with another click before finally speaking. He honestly couldn’t say no to those eyes. They were so expressive, almost pleading with him. “I don’t know what’s going on.”</p><p>It was really all he could offer, but even he knew that wasn’t a very adequate response.</p><p>He tried again, “I can’t remember anything.”</p><p>That was better. Though his heart panged again as Zuko’s eyes went from confused to wide a with alarm. For some reason, he really wasn’t fond of the look; he wanted to make it go away.</p><p><em>Ah! Why did he keep thinking these things! Why did he care!</em> About the freakishly-hot, formally-unattractive ponytailed <em>ashmaker, </em>none-the-less!</p><p>Sokka was brought back to the present when Zuko stumbled out of the large bed, struggling just a bit to quickly untangle the sheets from his legs and—damn those legs. Long and thin; creamy skin that looked like it would be sinfully soft against his hands. Tiny ankles and—shit! His mind was truly no longer his own. He knew for a fact that those legs had a terrifying amount of hidden strength.</p><p>Honesty, though, his thoughts kept getting lewder by the moment. <em>Think about something else—anything else, </em>he was pleading with himself that this point.<em> Think about</em><em> Gran-gran! Appa! The Firelord?</em> </p><p>Yeah, that one worked.</p><p>Sokka finally tore his eyes away from Zuko’s legs and watched him throw open the door across from his bed. What was on the other side seemed to be a long, well-lit hallway. </p><p>“Jee! Haku! I need you to wake Healer Katara and Avatar Aang and bring them here. Now!” The frantic lit to Zuko’s voice made Sokka’s hackles rise. But to be honest, out of all of this, strange feelings of...protectiveness, perhaps?...he couldn’t explain seemed like the least shocking thing that’s happened so far. Granted, most of the turmoil was going on in his head because he felt <em>way</em> too out of place to move so much as a muscle as he watched the two guards that were by the door rush away.</p><p>Sokka vaguely registered that Zuko was wearing nothing more than a loosely-tied sleeping robe that ended mid-thigh, looking rather rumpled. If it weren’t such an intense situation, Sokka would have even gone as far to say as Zuko looked utterly<em> ‘sexed-out’</em>. </p><p>He blinked. <em>Wow, okay. Settle down, thoughts.  </em></p><p>That was, thankfully, also the moment both Aang and Katara came rushing into the room, chests heaving with short breaths. Zuko stopped pacing, head snapping up to look at them.</p><p>
  <em>When did he start pacing?</em>
</p><p>Katara spoke first, pinching her nose, “I swear to Tui and La, Zuko, if this is another sex-related accident, I’m going to set Toph on both of you.”</p><p>Sokka blinked again. <em>What? </em></p><p>Zuko looked mildly affronted, “It wasn’t! Sokka’s lost his memory.” He paused, then added with a huff, “And besides, that was <em>one time</em> and it was <em>hardly</em> my fault.”</p><p>Katara and Aang both looked taken aback, though it only lasted a moment before Katara sighed, “Well, that just means that Sokka can’t argue against you this time.”</p><p>Zuko sniffed, crossing his arms and turning his head away, “No, it just means he’s automatically conceded point.”</p><p>Sokka had no idea what was going on, but thankfully Aang was merciful.</p><p>Aang learned his throat, “Uh, guys, you can argue about technicalities later, but right now I think Sokka’s in shock and he should probably be our first priority here, given the whole ‘memory’ loss thing.”</p><p><em>That</em> certainly spurred Katara into action. She took quick strides over to his side of the bed to scrutinise his very existence. Aang joined her eventually, but Zuko didn’t follow. He just stood close to the closed door, biting at his nails and looking like he was about to vibrate apart. </p><p>“Sokka,” Katara called softly. “What’s the last thing you remember?”</p><p>He regarded her. Her voice was gentle and her face was open despite looking exhausted—there was slight bruising under here eyes. Aang just smiled at him and looked on patiently, not looking the least bit like he was losing sleep.</p><p>Sokka took a steadying breath, “I think Katara and I got sick and Aang made us suck on frogs?” </p><p>Everyone shuddered at the memory, but Zuko gasped, “Agni, but—but that was—.”</p><p>Katara cut him off, tearing her eyes from Sokka to look at the other boy, “Breathe, Zuko. You’re fine, you’re <em>safe</em>, <em>we’re</em> safe. You know the day, you know the hour.” She said, “Sokka’s condition is temporary, there is no reason for his memory loss to be permanent. He was okay before you both went to bed, yes?”</p><p>Sokka watched the fire boy’s hand rest against his heart again as he tried to regulate his breathing; he seemed to still be trembling, though—barely noticeable but still happening.</p><p>There was suddenly a light flush to his cheeks. “Yeah,” Zuko cleared his throat, voice tight, “Yeah, he was fine. So why...?”</p><p>“That’s what we need to find out,” Katara said. Her voice was firm in a way Sokka didn’t recognise. It was confident and unburdened. It suited her. </p><p>Aang sat next to him on the bed, “I’m going to give you a good summary of things so you can at least know <em>why</em> you are here. The events you’re talking about were over four and a half years ago. Since then, we have gained new allies,” Aang gestured to Zuko, “and we have lost many friends. But we are rebuilding. I’ve defeated the fire lord and Zuko took over the throne, and we are working to bring an era of peace. I skimmed over a lot, obviously, and that’s probably not <em>too</em> helpful, but you needed to know <em>something</em> to at least settle your mind for now.”</p><p>Sokka didn’t know when it happened but suddenly he could breathe.</p><p>“Katara,” Aang offered, sliding off the edge of the bed.</p><p>Katara took his place. “Now, I need you to do as I say, alright? Breathe in, hold, breathe out. Can you do that?” She waited for Sokka to nod before continuing, “I’m going to use my waterbending—I need to see what’s wrong and this should show me.”</p><p>He had a feeling there was more to it than that, but now was not the time, nor the place.</p><p>Sokka saw Katara’s hands come up, coating themselves in water before starting to glow. </p><p>Time seemed to slow down. His mind felt numb and the world felt far away. He could hear muffled voices and gentle hands in his hair; the cold press to his temples; familiar smells. But it seemed to both last forever and end in a flash. The fingers retracted and he wanted desperately to protest, but he couldn’t bring himself to let out even a single sound. He just felt so...weak, detatched. Drained of life and will. His heart was heavy and his mind was chaotic. </p><p>“<em>There</em>,” he heard Katara say. “<em>If in the morning he still has memory problems, send another guard. For now, all we can do is rest and wait</em>.”</p><p>Zuko’s voice came from beside him, to his right like he had been before Sokka woke up, “<em>But what happened? </em>”</p><p>Aang was the one to speak next, he was farther away, more muffled than the others, “<em>I</em><em>’m pretty sure it’s spiritual. From what Katara tells me, Sokka has always been sort of spirit-sensitive, even though we hardly ever encountered any in our travels. Something must be affecting him, messing with his spiritual pathways. Could have been on purpose, maybe not. It’s hard to tell, but I’ve been feeling a little off lately as well, like something isn’t right, or that there’s something big on the horizon...</em>” Aang’s voice got gradually softer as it tapered off.</p><p>“<em>I</em><em> don’t think I could go through this again. I don’t </em>want<em> to.</em>” Zuko whispered. Sokka strained to hear him. “<em>If it happens a second time? What if...</em>”</p><p>“<em>Zuko</em>,” Katara’s voice was soft and kind with a quality he’d never thought would be directed at Zuko of all people. “<em>T</em><em>his isn’t your fault. You couldn’t have prevented this, so do not dwell on the what-if’s, okay?</em>” Zuko said nothing, but Sokka assumed he offered Katara something of an acknowledgement as Katara finally sighed. “<em>Sleep, now, Zuko. You haven’t been recently. I know things are piling up, but you’re doing what you can. You must take care of yourself before you can take care of your people.</em>”</p><p>Sokka listened to two sets of footsteps walk away before stopping a moment, “<em>Take care of yourself so you can take care of him</em>,” Katara said softly. </p><p>“<em>Sleep well, Zuko.</em>” Aang said.</p><p>“<em>You too, Aang.</em>” Zuko paused, “<em>Katara. Thank you</em>.”</p><p>Sokka heard Katara chuckle, <em> “Of course, what are in-laws for, hm? When it comes to my idiot brother, it’s honestly a mystery how he stays alive without me.” </em></p><p>That seemed to draw a wet, some-what broken chuckle from Zuko.</p><p>The door closed and the room was plunged back into silence. Sokka listened for Zuko, any shift against fabric, and the sound of his breathing...but he got nothing. It was almost as if Zuko left with Katara and Aang. Unnaturally quiet.</p><p>Until he heard the sniffle. The heavy exhale. The smooth slide against the silk sheets as Zuko settled back under the blankets.</p><p>But he wasn’t snuggled against Sokka this time. He was further away, maybe an arm’s reach, maybe more. If Sokka could move his arm, extending it fully in Zuko’s direction, he would have been lucky if his fingertips made contact. </p><p>There was a strange ache in Sokka’s chest. He wanted that warm, grounding weight against his side again. Wanted to feel Zuko under his hands, his hair against his lips, his scent in his nose. But Zuko felt so far now, like a cavern had formed between them, and it caused something in Sokka to suffer horribly because that’s <em>not </em>how it should have been. It wasn’t right. </p><p><em> “Come back to me, okay?</em>” Another soft sniff. “<em>Please...</em>”</p><p>And somehow Sokka knew that Zuko was curled up into himself, silent tears dripping from his eyes, unnaturally cold and desperate to feel warm again. And this made Sokka ache down to his very core. His thoughts raged and warred against each other, the ones that wanted to mock Zuko for his ‘weakness’, tell him it's what he deserved for his evil doings—and the ones that want to tear those thoughts to sheds and replace them with words of love, of reassurance and reverence. He felt cold too—<em>he was desperate to feel warm again, too</em>. </p><p>Despite the pain Sokka was feeling so deep in his heart, he could not stay awake any longer. His thoughts exhausted him, the only thing left before he finally succumbed to dark unconsciousness, “<em>Forgive me. I’ll make it up to you, sweetheart. I swear it.</em>”</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Sokka woke up groggy again, this time full of aches he didn’t think he should have. But they weren’t the aches he was used to. He knew muscle strain and bruising and aches of over-work from days in battle that would go all the way to his bones. But these weren’t it. These aces were almost worse, in a way. <em>Some</em> of them told him he was missing something. Others weren’t so helpful. </p><p>His heartbeat was steady against his chest, but it felt almost as if it was encased in a metal cage of anxiety and loss. His mind was falling over itself to know why, but he was too muddled to think as straight as he needed to, to even catch a single one of those frantic ponderings. </p><p>He cracked his eyes open and breathed in deep. The familiar wood of the four-poster bed, the familiar smells of the room. Of home. Of safety. Of the one he loved encased in his arms, sharing warmth and comfort.</p><p><em> Oh</em>.</p><p>That.</p><p>That was it.</p><p>That’s what he was missing.</p><p>And suddenly his mind was clear again, everything from the night before rushing back, vivid and unyielding, slamming right into him with no forgiveness.</p><p>He knew he should give amnesia-him some slack—for obvious reasons—but man, he wanted to hit himself; if only for Zuko’s unintentional suffering in the wake of his new-found spirit-induced mental handicap, and for the particularly unsavoury thoughts amnesia-him had during that time. </p><p>Sokka looked over to the other side of the bed where he knew the bender would be, or at least he held out hope that Zuko hadn’t already woken up for the day and disappeared into his work. </p><p>He wasn’t disappointed, though. Zuko was exactly where he’d settled down last night. He was curled in on himself, his arms tucked tight between his legs and his chest; his face pressed into the mattress with a pinched expression. Sokka’s back twinged in sympathy just by looking at him, but Zuko’s ridiculous flexibility probably saved him from feeling any effects of the position himself. </p><p>Sokka slowly moved closer to the other boy. Each movement gradual and firm as to not startle him from sleep like amnesia-him had. He carefully curled around Zuko, settling his arms around him gently before slowly letting the weight of them press down with firm pressure as he relaxed.</p><p>Zuko unfurled a bit, subconsciously gravitating towards Sokka. His breathing was still slow and regulated with slumber, but it lost its edge to it as some of the tension left his body. He was still cold, though; and in all honesty, so was Sokka. Sokka pulled the boy closer to him, tucking his own arm under Zuko’s head to press him further to his chest, as his other hand soothed down the curve of his spine, encouraging it to straighten out so that Zuko could mould himself to Sokka’s front and re-start that blazing fire in his veins.</p><p>It took a while. It was a slow process but more than worth it. Zuko’s legs eventually tangled with Sokka’s and his face was nuzzled just under Sokka’s chin, breathing steady and satisfied. The pinched look was nowhere to be seen, almost as if it hadn’t been there in the first place. His skin was now on the edge of too-warm but the heat seeped under Sokka’s in a way that was completely mad utterly <em>intoxicating</em> as it chased away the chill of the night and the unsettled feeling coiled in his chest.</p><p>Sokka tucked his nose into Zuko’s hair to breathe him in as his free arm went around the curve of Zuko’s waist. Sokka pulled him flush against him to rub small circles into the small of his back. </p><p>They were going to need to figure something out, just in case this happened again. Make precautions as they figured out what caused the event in the first place.</p><p>Sokka started to drift again, sinking slowly back into slumber. He focused on Zuko’s light and steading breathing, his warmth, how he was limp and relaxed within Sokka’s embrace. He let it lull him back into a peaceful sleep.<br/><br/><br/></p><hr/><p>
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  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>(So I realised, after I finished polishing this to post, the potential it could have had if it was Jet/Zuko rather than Sokka/Zuko. Excuse me while I scream in minor disappointment.)</p><p>I hope you enjoyed!</p><p>As per usual, Comments and Kudos keep me going~</p></blockquote></div></div>
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